Kenner police said officers began investigating a woman's death at a Kenner hotel that happened Monday night.

Police said Anita McDonald, 22, of Flowood, Miss., was found unresponsive at the Comfort Suites at in Kenner about 9:47 p.m. Monday.

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"Someone had called the hotel saying they were friends with the girl (McDonald) staying (in that room), and they had not heard from her in some time. They asked (hotel staff) to check on her. When they checked, they found her unconscious," Kenner Police Chief Steve Caraway said on Tuesday.

McDonald was pronounced dead at the scene. Police told WDSU that autopsy results indicated that McDonald was strangled to death.

Police said the case has striking similarities to another homicide two weeks ago at a hotel in Metairie.

According to investigators, both victims were African-American women in their early 20s, both were from out of town and had a history of soliciting money for sex, and both were killed by asphyxiation and showed signs of being tied up.

However, police said it's too early in the investigation to link the crimes. For now, investigators said they are trying to figure out what brought McDonald to the hotel.

"One of the things we are looking into is what led her (McDonald) to the hotel, how long she had been there, what she was doing there and what was her business," Caraway said.

Investigators said they have identified a person of interest in the case, who is also wanted by authorities in east Baton Rouge Parish and is on a violent offenders' list.

But police said the person of interest in the case jumped off the Veterans Memorial Bridge in Gramercy and into the Mississippi River on Tuesday.

The Louisiana State Police and the state Wildlife and Fisheries said rescue crews are still searching by air and boat to find the man.

"I think there is more to (the case), and when all is said and done, we will find out what it is," Caraway said.

Anyone with information on the death is asked to call the Kenner Police Department at 504-712-2222 or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111.